Past and Future, Intertwined
by Jaded Skye
Summary: [For more vocabulary-oriented readers] Kagome Higurashi was of the two different worlds: Feudal and Modern Japan. When an enemy from the past in appeared in her future, she would have to find an answer in the past before all havoc breaks loose. R&R.
1. Prologue

**Past and Future, Intertwined**  
_Jaded Skye_  
  
  
  
  
Prologue  
  
  
  


    It was your typical cold January night. There was a beautiful full moon, but it went mostly un-noticed by the crowds. The people that were still out went about their ways, hurrying here and there, eager to reach their destination. The amount of people on the streets was diminishing rapidly. It was getting late.  
  
    The business district was located, conveniently, in the center of the city. From every corner of the city, you could almost always catch a glimpse of the numerous tall buildings. On this night, nearly all of the lights of the offices in the district were out, save for a few late-workers.  
  
    However, in an un-lit office on one of a particular building's top floors, there still remained someone. The office had an unexplainable atmosphere. It somehow made people who entered uncomfortable. It was a neat and organized office, dull, not much of _personality_ about it. There was no a single un-work related object in the office of Elvrie Stiin, the boss of the USA fraction of Kagewaki Enterprises.  
  
    Elvrie was, seemingly, a normal middle-aged American. He did his job, went golfing every few weeks, and relished junk food. There were occasionally, like any other company, the usual complaints from his employers, but nothing out of the ordinary.  
  
    But if the actual facts about were to be revealed, it would be enough, to say the least, make anyone cry in outrage. In truth, Elvrie was a sly, malicious, greedy man. He was the perfect person to run the USA fraction of the Kagewaki Enterprises—a cover for an international criminal organization.  
  
    On this night, Elvrie was standing in front of his office windows, watching the scene below him. Lost in thoughts he was, that a snide smile appeared on his face. The first of the ten loud bangs of the old-fashioned clock sounded, making him cringe.  
  
    _"Elvrie…"_  
  
    Elvrie was not at all surprised. It was the 13th of the month. He first had been shocked at the unnatural voice, shocked of the fact that no one was there yet he could hear the voice perfectly. It such a normal occurrence now that his initial surprise had wore off, however supernatural it may be. "Naraku," he stated.  
  
    _"Have you found the Tetsusaiga yet?"_  
  
    Elvrie grimaced. He knew how his boss, the boss of the whole Kagewaki Enterprises, _hated_ failures. "No, not yet," he reported, hiding his discomfort, "I have people working on it around the clock. We've already checked all the antique stores in the Oregon region and—"  
  
    _"Spare me your excuses! I want results!"_  
  
    It's just a sword, after all. What could possibly be so special about it? And whoever did heard of a sword with a name anyway? Covering his distain about the whole business, Elvrie bowed his head, even though he wasn't sure if his boss could even see him. After a nerve-wrecking minute, the voice returned.  
  
    _"You said you checked the **Oregon** antique stores? Did I not make it clear to you that it is a **Japanese** ornamental sword?"_  
  
    "Yes, but--" Elvrie started, but he was cut off again.  
  
    _"Send your people to Japan at once! It would not be found anywhere else."_  
  
    "I thought there was a division of the company in Japan!" Protested Elvrie. He saw no point in wasting men overseas. After all, he wasn't there to supervise their process and how would he know if one of his men goofed off?  
  
    _"Not in Japan, Elvrie. I have certain… **enemies** … there."_  
  
    The way his boss stressed "enemies" made him shiver.  
  
    _"I want the Tetsusaiga to be found at once. Don't disappoint me."_  
  
    The words echoed and echoed around the room. Elvrie didn't relax until it completely faded, as if it was never there in the first place. Sighing, Elvrie made the necessary arrangements.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
    Kagewaki came to with a jolt. He stared at his fuzzy surroundings. He closed his eyes, pausing for a few seconds before reopening them. Everything turned clear. He now saw the familiar laptop in front of him. He remembered that he was working on this month's financial accounts. He checked the time. It was 10:30 PM according to his digital watch.  
  
    _It's_ been half an hour? He thought, still in a daze. It was happening more and more often now. These "blackouts" always left him with a nasty headache and a bad feeling. It felt as if… There was a brief flash of… knowledge. The feeling passed as suddenly as it came. It left a sour note.  
  
    With a yawn, Kagewaki closed his laptop. Praying to the powers that be, he called it a day.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Disclaimer:**  
I own InuYasha. Right, and pigs can fly. (If you throw a pig down from the top of the Empire State Building, it'll probably learn to fly. After all, no pig wants to be a dead pig, right?) _Jaded Skye will not be held responsible for any dead pigs should you actually try the experiment._  
  
  
**Author's Note:**  
This chapter's a result of a certain picture in my head (someone watching the full moon through a window of a high floor) and watching too much YuGiOh. I personally think this is way too serious. The upcoming chapter will be light and humourous (hopefully), I'll posted it next week (crosses fingers). Questions? Suggestions? Constructive critisism? Feel free to leave a review! 


	2. Chapter One Accident Prone

**Past and Future, Intertwined**  
_Jaded Skye_  
  
Chapter One – Accident Prone  
  


"KEH!"  
  
The word itself wasn't much, certainly not something you would find in a dictionary. The tone, however, implied dissatisfaction, annoyance, and perhaps a bit of anger.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE OUT OF RAMEN?"  
  
Scratch that, a lot of anger indeed.  
  
Kagome Higurashi looked irritably at the half dog demon standing in front of her. "We…are…out…of…ramen, Inuyasha." She glanced at the clock, "Oh no! I'm going to be late!" She started to bolt for the door.  
  
In one swift movement, Inuyasha leaped in front of her, blocking her, and in the process, knocking over a table lamp that happened to be in his way. It was a feat, considering how low the ceiling was. The crash sought attention, and in a few seconds, all the members of the Higurashi residence was in the room, just in time to hear Inuyasha say grumpily, "I came here to fetch you. I wouldn't even have come if I knew I was going to wait for a whole day!" After a brief pause, more agitatedly, "How can you be out of ramen?"  
  
"I didn't tell you to come here!" Exclaimed Kagome, her own temper rising, "It's not my fault I have a huge Math test today! We don't have an infinite supply of ramen you know! You think we sell this stuff?"  
  
Before the argument could continue, Souta wisely stepped in, "Why don't you just buy him ramen, sis?"  
  
"I'm really going to be late!" Cried out Kagome tensely, "If I don't pass this Math test I have no chance of passing this course!"  
  
"Inuyasha can buy ramen for himself," suggested Grandpa, "Just give him some money, Kagome, and you can be on your way." He then muttered some excuse and went on with his schedule.  
  
"What a great idea!" Mrs. Higurashi commented, smiling.  
  
"Inuyasha can't buy ramen!" Kagome argued passionately, "What if he blows his cover? We're going to have a national crisis on our hands!"  
  
"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Inuyasha fumed.  
  
"Do you even know what a grocery store is?" Kagome questioned.  
  
"KEH!"  
  
Souta sighed as he stepped in once again. Did he always have to be the peacekeeper? He pushed Kagome out of the door—around Inuyasha of course—reassuring her, "We'll teach Inuyasha everything. After all, it can't be harder than slaying demons."  
  
"But—"  
  
"You're going to be late, sis." Souta cleverly reminded her.  
  
"You're right!" Kagome bolted out of the house without a backward glance; her mind fully occupied with formulas, rules, theories, etc—generally everything Math related. It would be after the crisis when she would finally find space in her mind to worry about other things.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi fished a 1000-yen note out of her purse and held it out Inuyasha with a grin. "Here you go. This should get you about 10 packages of ramen. You can go to the supermarket east of here. It's about a ten-minute walk. Not far, not far at all."  
  
Inuyasha stared at the money, clueless. "What's this suppose to do? Who's the ugly guy on it? What is a supermarket anyway?"  
  
Souta sighed, "It's money." Inuyasha still looked clueless. Souta thought for a second and elaborated, "It can get you ramen." Inuyasha stopped looking confused and started looking doubtful. Souta continued, "Trust me. And that 'ugly guy' just so happens to be Natsume Soseki. He was a very famous writer you know!"  
  
Inuyasha stared. "So? You mean he's dead? Why is a dead guy on this paper then?"  
  
Mrs. Higurashi giggled. Deciding to ignore Inuyasha's comment, she answered his last question, "A supermarket is a place where you can get all kinds stuff like ramen."  
  
"Oh," Inuyasha finally began to understand, "How am I going to recognize this supermarket?"  
  
Mrs. Higurashi replied, "There's a sign."  
  
"Ten minutes you said? I bet I could make it in three." With that, Inuyasha was off. Somehow, in the mere seconds that Inuyasha went out of the door, Souta managed to put a baseball cap on his head, covering the dog-ears. Sure they were cute, the ears, but the main goal was for him to _blend in_, not _stand out_.  
  
"I hope nothing goes wrong," Mrs. Higurashi remarked, looking troubled for a few seconds. Then she brightened up, "Come on Souta! If you don't hurry, you're going to be late too!"  
  
A groan could be heard as the excitement of the morning wore off and the normal boringness took over once again. 

--------------

  
  
Sesshoumaru walked amid the crowds. His sensitive nose protested against the everlasting human stench. The inferior race was always the same. Always in a hurry, thinking their selves as important when they don't know any better.  
  
Sesshoumaru absent-mindedly blocked out the stench. He still couldn't believe the humans' naivety. How could they, throughout the generations, forget about the demons—the obvious pointy top of the food chain? He could single-handedly wipe out those pests, even if they were scattered all over the world. Sometimes he wondered why didn't, why he stopped killing just for fun. The train of thought brought him to the only human that he deemed worthy: Rin.  
  
Rin was unique. She stood out from all the others. She approached him when others would run away as fast as they were able. Her innocence was like a light in the utter darkness. She was brave as she was optimistic. She could see no evil. She stirred something in his heart that no other was able to do. He cared for her.  
  
Sesshoumaru was lost in reminiscence. Rin brought him back a long ways—500 years to be exact. How he missed that age: the thrill of the hunt, the satisfaction when he slaughtered hundreds without ever batting an eye, and the delight fighting a worthy opponent…and winning. (He had long since grudgingly accepted his half-brother Inuyasha's skill.)  
  
His only regret was that the bastard Naraku had not felled by his sword. He even regretted Naraku's death sometimes. Naraku did cause him a lot of grief, that was sure, but he was a worthy opponent. His existence provided a reason, a purpose for his life. Everything turned relatively dull after his death.  
  
Inuyasha provided the necessary entertainment once in a while, but once he realized that he could not kill him even if he could, most of the fun was taken out of the sport.  
  
Then there was, of course, the inevitable. Rin grew up, found a mate, (after Sesshoumaru himself approved—that took two years) created her own family, and eventually, she died. Such was the fact of life of humans. Rin had, before she died, requested that he didn't use the Tenseiga to revive her. Her reason being that she lived a satisfactory life, and that she was happy. She would miss her Sesshoumaru-sama, but it was her time to pass on, to whatever lied beyond death.  
  
He had mourned for her in his own way, but she would always remain in his heart and in his memories. He stopped killing humans for no reason; Rin had given him too much for him to go back on his word to her—he had promised her to only kill for a reason.  
  
Sesshoumaru turned a corner, his long and silver hair floated after him. He thought he figured out why he was bored these past years: the lack of challenges. He had surpassed all the challenges the human world could offer. He had first decided to blend in with the humans for lack of anything else to do. Now that he's overcame all of the challenges of 'becoming a human', he felt, once again, bored.  
  
He wondered if his half-brother, Inuyasha was still alive. It wouldn't surprise him very much if he were; weirder things had happened. Maybe he should seek him out. It would perhaps, cure his boredom. 

--------------

  
Souta looked up in surprise. He usually didn't pay that much attention to the teacher, but something had caught his attention.  
  
"…She's from a school in Canada," the teacher was saying, "and she's quite fluent in Japanese. I want you all to be nice to her." The teacher looked at the clock impatiently, "She should be here by now…" she said, more to herself than to the now interested class.  
  
After a lengthy pause, the teacher sighed and prepared to go back to teaching, when suddenly, loud and hurried footsteps were heard. The door swung open and revealed a young black-haired girl. She wore the issued school uniform and Souta would never have guessed from the look of her that she was from Canada.  
  
"Gomen! Gomen!" She was apologizing, "I'm so sorry about the delay. It won't happen again, I promise!"  
  
The teacher forced a smile and told the class, "Give a warm welcome to Lindsey everyone!"  
  
"Welcome, Lindsey," the class chorused in monotone as she give a smile.  
  
Souta grinned. _She would probably be a nice person to get to know… _

--------------

  
  
Inuyasha was, though he would never admit it to anyone, utterly and completely _lost_. Truth to be told, he could not _read_. If he could not read in his own time, what hope did he have in reading modern Japanese?  
  
As he walked among the crowds, he looked around aimlessly. _What is it now? Ten minutes?_ He thought, _Shouldn't the supermarket be around here now?_ It had not occurred to him, at all, to ask someone. It was by sheer dumb luck that he saw a picture of ramen by a window, advertising a special price of 100-yen. With an excited yell, he entered the store.  
  
It was bigger than he first thought. There were aisles and aisles of things he had never seen before. So what else was new? He hated almost everything about modern Tokyo.  
  
Strolling along the aisles randomly, he chanced to hear a passing conversation between a mother and a teenage girl.  
  
"Mother would this do?" The girl asked as she held out a package.  
  
"Yes, dear, I think it'll do perfectly for that time of the month." The mother answered as she took the package and put it into her quarter-full shopping cart—of course, our dear Inuyasha thought it was some weird three-sided cage with wheels.  
  
Inuyasha all but sprang to where the two human females were a moment before. _Did I hear them correctly? Did they just say 'that time of the month'? _Thought Inuyasha with utmost confusion, were they half-demons like myself?  
  
He looked at the package. It showed a semi-circle white thing with flaps. It was strange to say the least. "Keh! How is this supposed to help that time of the month?" Inuyasha exclaimed loudly, causing a couple of shoppers to look at him strangely, not that he cared at all. "I'll have to ask Kagome," he grumbled as he took it and walked on. 

--------------

  
Kagome wrote feverishly. The test was hard, yet at least some of the materials she crammed into her brain was becoming useful. All of her hard studying did pay off.  
  
Kagome shook her writing hand, and rested it a bit. It was hurting from the amount of writing. The moment she stopped writing, her mind skipped to wonder about Inuyasha._ How's he doing? I hope he doesn't get in trouble. But he always gets in trouble! I sure hope no one gets on his nerves! I don't trust his hot-tempered nature. What if… what if… what if he kills someone? _Before her mind could contemplate the consequences, she shut it down. She threw herself into the test. She would worry **afterwards**. 

--------------

  
Inuyasha looked at the endless stack of ramen hungrily. He was almost drooling as he took all of the ramen that he could hold in record speed. The pile was covering his face as he tried to find his way back to the entrance. The top of his pile was certainly wobbling as he paced, but it didn't topple.  
  
It was a miracle, or sheer dumb luck that he was full of, that he didn't manage to bump into anyone in the way. The shelves seemed to miss him on purpose. Perhaps it was some seventh sense that demons had? Whatever the reason, he was just about out of the door when…  
  
"Hey you! Did you pay that?"  
  
Inuyasha turned around, lowered his pile, and glared at the person behind the register. His yellow iris pierced and burned with agitation.  
  
The man, who had the unfortunate luck of this particular shift, shifted uncomfortably. Trying to recover his composure, he tried to speak reasonably, "You have to pay for your purchases you know?"  
  
Inuyasha looked blank for a second but he seemed to remember what Mrs. Higurashi and Souta had told him. _Something about money_, he remembered. He put his load by the cash register, stifling all the complaints from the lined-up shoppers with a single scowl in their direction, and took out the 1000-yen note that Mrs. Higurashi had gave him. "Here," he said as he prepared pick up his items again.  
  
Looking at Inuyasha's pile and the 1000-yen, the man argued, "it isn't enough, mister! The ramen costs 100-yen, you have 15, and not to mention the 500-yen female pads!" He seemed to blush at the last few words, but he continued, "that adds up to 2000-yen!"  
  
Getting angry, Inuyasha reached for the man behind the counter, grabbing him by his clothes collar. "Look human," he scowled again, his time showing his fangs, "I'm not having a very good day. Someone, most likely you, will get hurt if my mood doesn't improve soon." He brushed his sharp claws against the man's collar, applying enough force to rip the cloth but not enough to draw blood. "Understood?"   
  
The man was a very sensible man. He didn't look for trouble and he certainly didn't want trouble. He nervously nodded and took Inuyasha's 1000-yen note. It was worth his own 1000-yen if he could get rid of this strangely dressed and sharp-nailed stranger.  
  
Inuyasha paused to glare one last time at the bewildered on-lookers, and left with his 'purchases'. 

--------------

  
Kagome sighed in relief as she handed in her paper. She thought she did reasonably well, even though she mostly guessed to answer some of the harder questions.  
  
Now that the test was over, she had space in her mind to worry. She forced a smile when one of her friends flashed her a thumbs-up. They would probably think she was nervous about how she did on the test.  
  
She forced herself to forget everything and listen to the teacher. It wasn't working. 

--------------

  
Inuyasha decided to explore the city after dropping off his 'purchases' at Kagome's. Even though he hated Kagome's world—the smell, the people, the unfamiliar customs, everything—he admitted to himself that anything was better than staying at the temple with…with…Kagome's grandpa. The old man didn't like him that was for sure.  
  
It was probably the half-demon part of him that the old man detested. It was a difficult situation being a half-demon. Never truly accepted by either demons or humans. That was why he sought the Shikon Jewel of Four Souls, to become a full-fledged demon—originally. Now he wasn't so sure anymore. Kagome had said that she liked him as a half-demon…  
  
Inuyasha purposefully shook off that train of thought. Even thinking about it made him confused. He would figure everything out soon or later. Now he had things to do, well sort of. He didn't know where he was going, but just followed his nose to interesting places—mostly just food stands.  
  
After getting caught red-handed by a food stand owner, Inuyasha finally felt a tiniest amount of guilt and started back for Kagome's. The said food stand owner was now nursing his wounds at the nearest hospital, Inuyasha was sad to report.  
  
As Inuyasha walked along, something shiny attracted his eye. The only thing that shined like that was the Shikon Jewel, Inuyasha thought excitedly. With a leap, he was in front of the strange machine… well, almost. He couldn't really push a female child out of his way.  
  
The girl was staring intensely at the machine, as she seemed to be controlling the claw-like metal thing inside the glass. Inuyasha just stared at what was inside—shiny jewels, lots of them. Inuyasha's eyes swirled at the sight of the sparkling jewels, wondering if any of them were a Shikon shard. After all, it wasn't totally impossible for Kagome's world to have a Shikon shard, right?  
  
The girl left with her prize—a pretty necklace, no resemblance whatsoever to the Shikon shards—and Inuyasha stepped up to the plate… figuratively, that is. He stared at the machine again and tried to see if anything looked like a shard. That was when a young boy tugged his red robe impatiently and asked smugly, "mister, aren't you going to put coins in? You have to, or else it wouldn't work. Why do you want anything in _there_ anyway, it's all just girly stuff."  
  
Inuyasha was in a bad mood indeed, and being told by a human youngster—reminding him that he has no money—was the last spark. He growled, he hissed—or he would have if he was a snake demon—, and he shook the machine like crazy. The boy, being not entirely senseless, ran, but Inuyasha continued on shaking the machine. It was actually a good way to vent out his anger, Inuyasha discovered as he stopped momentarily. He was no longer as angry as before.  
  
All the commotion had brought out the park manager and boy was he shocked when he spotted the mess our dear Inuyasha had made. The stuff inside the machine was no longer inside; they were scattered all over the place, and no one, except for a longed-haired punk was there. That was NOT good for business, and the manager feared for his job, and that was making him angry.  
  
"WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU **DO**?" Inuyasha was assaulted by the loud scream. He turned and spotted a human who was furiously trying to make his way across the debris. "YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY FOR ALL THIS!!!"  
  
Reminded, once again, of his lack of this "money", Inuyasha twitched. His hands were dangerously near the sheath where he kept his Tetsusaiga. Then he thought better of it—he would never hear the end of it from Kagome if he as much as touched one strand of this puny human's hair—and leaped easily over the debris. He jogged out of the scene, and headed back to Kagome's.  
  
After all that exercise, he was hungry. It would be the perfect time to devour the ramen he had so difficultly bought. His sensitive ears caught the sounds of the park manager's screams of agony. Inuyasha smiled. _He should be thanking me that he's not in pieces right now_, Inuyasha thought, satisfied with what he perceived as his good deed for the day. 

--------------

  
Kagome threw open the door. It was a very tough afternoon as she continuously tried in vain to forget about Inuyasha. She was sure that her friends worried about what she was thinking about, but it was not as if she can tell them—that she wondered if a half-demon that she knew would kill anyone. Yeah right, who would believe her?  
  
It was with relief that she found Inuyasha sitting idly in front of her TV, watching a cowboy western—with her grandpa. Taking the control away from her grandpa, she shut off the TV. She ignored the protests and raised her voice to ask, "Did you manage to buy your ramen? You didn't kill anyone, did you?"  
  
"Yes I bought ramen. You think I'm an idiot or something? No I didn't kill anyone. Oh yeah," Inuyasha replied, and blinking he took out the package that he bought along with ramen, "Some humans were saying that this is used for that time of the months. Can this really help me with—?"  
  
Blushing, Kagome took the package away from Inuyasha. "No of course not," she assured Inuyasha, "it's nothing really, nothing you'll understand. You know, a thing of the future. No, no, it doesn't help with you turning human. I'm mean, I'm sure there's no half-demons in this time…" She backed out of the room little by little as she ranted on.  
  
She sighed as she went out of the room and ran up the stairs. It was an exhausting day. It was not a very good idea leaving Inuyasha by himself for a whole day, especially… She didn't want to know exactly how Inuyasha bought the ramen. Ignorance was bliss, people said. .  
  
**Disclaimer:**  
If I owned Inuyasha, do you think I would be writing no-pay fanfics? I would make this story a movie or something! I would be rich and... sighs  
  
**Author's Note:**  
Ha ha ha. Next week, more like a few months. Didn't feel like writing, and of course Gaia. Yep, I found that addicting forum, now I can't stay off it. XD Oh well, at least I finally updated. This chapter was suppose to be longer, but I decided to take some scenes out of it. Maybe I'll put them in the next chapter, maybe not. I don't know. Questions? Suggestions? Constructive critisism? Feel free to leave a review! 


	3. Chapter Two Getting to Know You

**Past and Future, Intertwined**  
_Jaded Skye_  
  
Chapter Two – Getting to Know You

  
  
Ah, it was a beautiful morning. The birds were chirping, the sun was showing her brilliance, the trees whistled... The peace was interrupted at times by the honking of the traffic, but that was normal in Tokyo. The households of the people were starting to stir, and all was tranquil.  
  
Now that's boring. If everything was peaceful, there wouldn't be conflict, and there wouldn't be story to tell. Thankfully, our main characters aren't as tranquil as the others, as we now take you to a quite contrary setting—a chaotic residence that we've been introduced to before.  
  
"What do you mean we're not going back?" Inuyasha exclaimed angrily, "You think Naraku's going to wait for us to gather the jewel shards?"  
  
"Well, it's not my fault we have a major Science test the day after tomorrow!" Kagome protested equally angry.  
  
"How long have you been here already, huh?" Still furious, Inuyasha asked.  
  
"Well, excuse me for having a normal life! I have an obligation to actually PASS this course! I'm not going to be paid for finding jewel shards! I need a good education so I can get a good job and live a good life WITHOUT the complications of the past!" Kagome ranted on, "I did not ask you to come here, and if you can't understand why I must be here just a little more longer, than go back!!" With that, she stormed out of the room.  
  
Inuyasha stood dazed for a second, then—like the runners in the Olympics—bolted after Kagome. He grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her towards the well. Needless to say, Kagome was most displeased. Well... you can probably guess what happened next.  
  
"SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!"  
  
BOOM! CRASH! CLING! THUD! KABOOM!  
  
"KAGOME! Not inside the house! Oh dear, look at the mess."

--------------

Kagome stared into space defiantly. She knew she did what she had to do, but why did she feel so gloomy? She had to stay, if only to study for that dreadful Science test the next day. Who did Inuyasha think he was anyways? She thought angrily, trying to boss her around. Her life was more important than some... jewel shards that could be amplifying demons' strengths—giving them power to destroy entire villages. There would be even more deaths should Naraku come to possess all the jewel shards.  
  
Kagome knew this, but she also knew that she would be putting her life on hold if she gave up everything for the past. She needed to keep that balance, and she resolved that she would. 

--------------

Kagome turned her attention to the teacher just in time to hear, "...and remember to study for the history quiz next week!" She silently groaned. Why was everyone against her? Tsukaze believed that luck decided to favor him at last. Clutching the piece of paper like his lifeline, he smiled happily. He entered the warehouse unhesitatingly after consulting the paper to make sure that the address was correct—it was.  
  
It was sort of an anti-climax for Tsukaze. The room was nothing out of the ordinary. It was not dark like in the movies; fluorescent lights hung in the ceiling. The room was not abandoned, but held about a dozen men—those men were just regular looking men, nothing special.  
  
Tsukaze approached the nearest man, and asked, "excuse me, but do you know what's happening?"  
  
The man shrugged, "I guess we're waiting."  
  
Tsukaze nodded. He was good at waiting. After all those horrible months of unemployment—waiting for a response from a company only to get rejected—he had learned patience. He waited. It wasn't long before something happened. After a few other men had arrived, his mysterious new boss decided to make an appearance.  
  
The man was dressed in an expensive looking black suit. He was a western man and had the features of them—tall, blond, and haughty. He spoke, "I'm sure you all received my letter. I'm looking for close-mouthed workers. You will sign a contract of secrecy after I explain what you are to do."  
  
The man paused slightly, and then continued, "Your job is simple. You are to look in antique stores all over Japan for an antique Japanese ornamental sword. You are to ask for the 'Tetsusaiga'. If they react to the name, notify me immediately. If not, move on. The people either have it or not. You will pick up your cheque—you will remember in the letter how much I will pay for your services—after you have completed searching all the stores on your piece of paper. Simple, no?"  
  
Tsukaze listened intently. It was not a joke; he had finally found a job—a good and easy job that paid well at that. It was a strange job, granted, but who cared! As long as he can cash those cheques, he would be happy... very happy indeed. 

--------------

Souta enjoyed the sunshine. He enjoyed the caress of the warmth against his bare face and arms, but most of all; he enjoyed the freedom of recess. It was almost worth his torture in the morning classes. He stopped suddenly as he spotted the new girl—Lindsey. He headed towards her.  
  
"Ohaiyo!" Lindsey greeted him cheerfully, "I beg your pardon that I don't know your name yet."  
  
"It's all right. You've only been here for a day, and there are just too many new names for you to remember. I understand!" He pointed toward himself as he introduced himself, "I'm Souta. I'm not interesting, but I bet you are. Tell me about yourself."  
  
Lindsey hesitated, "I-I don't know what to say. Really. I don't think I'm very interesting either."  
  
"Of course you are!" Souta objected, "You came from Canada! If you aren't going to volunteer information, then you can just answer my questions." Matter-of-factly, Souta began, "where did you live in Canada? Why did you decide to move here? How come you know Japanese very well? They didn't teach Japanese in your old school, did they?"  
  
"Slow down!" Lindsey exclaimed. Then she smiled abruptly as if she came to a decision about something. "I'll try to answer your questions. I lived in Montreal, Ontario of Canada. We spoke English and French there." Spotting an incoming question, she continued, "Yes, I also know French."  
  
"That's awesome!" Souta replied.  
  
"No, not really." Lindsey smiled modestly, "my uncle Maru knew many more languages." Holding up her hand, she said, "ask your questions after I answered your first ones. We decided to move here, because... well... my parents decided that I should see the home of my ancestors. I know Japanese because they insisted that I learn it. See, my parents planned our move for a while now—ever since I was born, to be exact."  
  
Souta nodded. "So, tell me about that uncle of yours. Is he Japanese? 'Cause he has a Japanese-sounding name and all."  
  
Lindsey laughed, "no one really knows actually. He's just... there. Every few years he comes to visit us, and we can get in touch with him via his company if we have an emergency—we never did. Did I mention he's very rich? He owns companies from all over the world. Other than that, we don't know much about him. We all have different suspicions about him and his family. Some of the theories that we came up with are pretty wacky. You want to hear?"  
  
"Sure!" Souta agreed at once.  
  
"Okay," Lindsey said, and then started, "see, my mom thinks that he's actually a departed spirit that was sent to look after us—a guardian angel, in other words. My dad, he believes that Maru's an alien that wants to study the human race and chose our family." She giggled, then continued, "Me, well, this is what I think..."  
  
Lindsey never got to finish for in that moment, the bell rang for the resumption of class. She went back inside with joy, happy that she found a friend in this new environment in such a short time. 

--------------

Tsukaze pushed open the fragile looking door. The bell that was evidently on it jingled and notified the owner, which happened to be a man getting on in the years. The man looked up from his magazine disinterestedly, and asked, "are you a customer?"  
  
"I work for a collector," Tsukaze answered simply, "I look for a sword. An ornamental Japanese sword called the 'Tetsusaiga'. Do you have it in your inventory or do you know anything about it?"  
  
"I might have it," the man answered gingerly, "how does it look like?"  
  
"You either have it or you don't. In your instance, you do not," Tsukaze told him as he flung a few 500-yen bills on the counter, "for your silence." The man looked suspiciously at him but he took the bills. It would be a long time before he would forget the incident though.  
  
Tsukaze stepped out of the dimly-lit store. He looked at his slip of paper for the next antique store address. He headed there. 

--------------

Inuyasha was walking around the city again, in a bleak mood. His claws itched for some demon blood, because fighting required his full concentration and he would not have to think of these maddening thoughts. He still could not believe Kagome refused to come with him, again! He gave up a whole day to bring her back, but did she care? No. All she cared about was some—what was that strange word again?—test. Kagome even had the insolence to tell him what to do. "Go back!" she had yelled at him.  
  
Well, he would stay here, if only to contradict her orders. Sure she could tell him to 'sit'—he snarled at the thought—but she doesn't have the strength to actually throw him in the well. Feeling better that he had made a decision, Inuyasha walked more briskly. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention to what was in his path, and so he bumped into someone. He wasn't about to apologize to a mere mortal and so he walked on...  
  
"You don't recognize me, dear half-brother?" asked the stranger, "why I'm wounded, deeply wounded."  
  
The voice, the tone, the words all blended in Inuyasha head. Slowly, he turned and stared into the golden eyes of the stranger. "Sesshoumaru," he growled. It was his demon half-brother—his hated enemy—dressed in the modern clothes that all the humans wore. It disgusted Inuyasha.  
  
"So you remember me. Good, good," Sesshoumaru continued, "still dressed in those rags, are you?" He looked up and down at Inuyasha, fully aware of the insult in his eyes.  
  
"You will never get your dirty hands on my Tetsusaiga so give it up!" Inuyasha declared, as if he had not heard the insultingly comment.  
  
Sesshoumaru started. Inuyasha still thought he was after the Tetsusaiga? How idiotic was his younger half-brother, but this might work in his advantage, it was what he wanted—when he could've just walked away—wasn't it? A reason to fight. "All bark and no bite, are you Inuyasha?"  
  
"You want a fight?" Inuyasha smiled with malice, drawing the Tetsusaiga from its sheath. "I will destroy you with the very thing you sought to take from me! Tetsusaiga!" He charged.  
  
Sesshoumaru was aware of the crowd making a circle around Inuyasha and himself to watch the spectacle. Perhaps he was a little rash, he thought as he dodged Inuyasha's uncoordinated sword strokes. Did he really want the humans to watch it? No, he answered himself.  
  
"Do watch yourself, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru commented, "you wouldn't want to kill a human by mistake." With that, he thought it was safe to leave. So, using a technique that he learned decades ago, he 'disappeared' as Inuyasha's latest attack came down.  
  
Inuyasha was furious at this turn of events. Ignoring the humans completely—for they don't matter—he began his futile attempt to catch wind of his half-brother's scent. He would do that in vain for several hours yet.

--------------

Tsukaze beamed as he walked away from the scene. It was really his day! To think, mere curiosity would earn him an extravagant bonus from his boss! The weirdly dressed kid had practically given him the money, yelling out 'Tetsusaiga' like it was the end of the world.  
  
It was a wicked looking blade. He had never seen anything like it, and that kid was wielding it like an actual weapon, not an ornamental sword put on display. He wondered if that sword could actually hurt that other person if he had not dodged the attacks.  
  
It occurred to Tsukaze suddenly that the police might be interested in this 'attempted murder', however strange it might be. He quickly rejected the notion. After all, the police wouldn't be paying him.

--------------

Sesshoumaru was laughing inside as he strolled. The brat was still alive and apparently, he had not lost his usual vigor in battle. Inuyasha would provide him with entertainment on another day, when he had time to spare. He stopped in front of the schoolyard and glanced at the children inside. He spotted Lindsey. The girl was talking quite lively with a boy of her age. She looked happy.  
  
Sesshoumaru was glad. It was great that she found a friend so soon. The girl spotted him, said good-bye to her new friend, and skipped over to him. It turned out he had not even to ask, for Lindsey was telling him all about her new friend. How like Rin she was, talking to him endlessly on end without expecting a reply in return.  
  
It turned out that the boy was called Souta and he lived with his older sister, his mom, and his strange grandpa in a shrine. (Lindsey thought that was so cool.) There was a "God Tree" on their property and it was supposed to be a place of mystery. It had always made them happy to be near there. Souta had invited her to visit sometimes, and would uncle Maru please, please, please let her go? Lindsey looked at him for an answer.  
  
"If your parents agree," Sesshoumaru responded. He did not know why the girl always asked him for permission. He was rewarded by one of Lindsey remarkable smile of joy. It somehow cheered him up as well. Elvrie hanged up the phone in disgust. A perfectly good piece of news was spoiled by the lack of answers. Sure they had found the apparent owner of the Tetsusaiga, but did they know who he was? No. Did they know where he lived? No. Did they know anything about this punk? Unfortunately, no.  
  
Elvrie regretted his choice of the man in charge in Japan. The idiot has absolutely no clue how to get information. If only he was there... He gritted his teeth. Wait. What was that? If only he was there... Well, why couldn't he be there? His fraction of the company could practically run itself, given the proper management. He had a few perfectly good youth who would do a good job managing his duties...  
  
This job of finding the Tetsusaiga was important enough for Naraku to worry about, and if they wanted to keep his job, he would have to please his boss. Elvrie grinned. When—not if—they got their hands on the sword, Naraku might even reward him. It was the thought foremost in his mind as he set about organizing the details of his departure.

**Disclaimer:**

Sure, I'm Rumiko Takahashi and I own Inuyasha. I was born in 1957 in Niigata, Japan. I'm considered to be one of the world's most popular manga artists. Yes, yes, of course.

**Author's Note:**

I wrote this pretty fast this time, but this chapter's a bit more shorter than the last. Not a lot of humor here, but hey! What's a story without some plot development? /laughs As usual, if you have any questions, suggestions, constructive critisim, or anything else, feel free to leave me an review!


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